MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — The 21-year-old university student, nearly two months pregnant, had hoped to escape Nicaragua with her boyfriend, but a police officer on a motorcycle blocked their path as they were getting into taxis with other students to go to a safe house.

Five police trucks loaded with masked and armed men dressed in civilian garb surrounded them. Uniformed officers began to search the students' backpacks. One pulled out a blue-and-white Nicaraguan flag.

"These are the terrorists who killed our fellow police," the officer shouted, using President Daniel Ortega's term for those w...